


the world will try

by live_laugh_murder



Series: intertwined [4]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Headcanon, How Do I Tag, Implied Sexual Content, Kidnapping, Kissing, Living Together, M/M, Making Out, Post-The Death Cure, Rescue Missions, Safe Haven, false safety, i guess, or so they thought
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-03-22 17:26:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13768959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/live_laugh_murder/pseuds/live_laugh_murder
Summary: Everything went to shit in the blink of an eye, and it was then that Thomas knew they would never truly be safe.It turns out the Safe Haven isn’t as safe as they thought.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This fic is based off of a theory I had about the Safe Haven, but I’m also trying to tie in conflicts from the last part of this, with Newt and his Flare relapses. Hopefully I can clear some things up from that, so if you’re interested in seeing some good angst and action, go check the previous part of this series out! Let me know what you think!

Something was off that morning. As soon as Thomas woke up, he could feel something in the air that was just throwing him off. Something like anxiety, tension. It felt like everything was building up to something huge, and he had no idea what it was. It killed him.

Still, he went on like everything was normal.

“Morning, love,” Newt greets, pecking Thomas’s cheek when he comes down to the kitchen in the morning. 

Thomas groans tiredly, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. “Morning.”

“How’d you sleep?” Newt asks, moving around the kitchen and making breakfast. From what Thomas can see, it’s chocolate chip pancakes.

“Better than I have in a while, actually,” Thomas answers, making his way over to the coffee pot. It’s full; Newt must have brewed it already, so it would be ready. He’s too good to Thomas.

Newt smiles. “Good. I’m glad.”

Thomas pours himself some coffee, glancing over at Newt, and he can’t help but smile softly. Despite everything, they were here. And they were good. “How, um... How are you feeling?”

He had been avoiding asking it, scared of another outburst. But since the incident a couple months ago, he constantly had the worry in the back of his mind that Newt would suddenly crank out again, and there would be no saving him. But he has to ask, has to check up on him once in a while.

“You know what, Tommy?” Newt asks, looking up from his cooking. “I feel great. Really bloody great.”

At this, Thomas grins widely. “Really?”

Nodding, Newt steps over to him. “Really. Come here.” He pulls Thomas closer, pressing their lips together.

Smiling into the kiss, Thomas hums happily and lets his eyes fall shut. It feels good. Everything feels good, despite the itch in the back of his head that something is wrong.

After a few moments, Newt brings his hands up, and Thomas thinks that he’s going to hold his face, or run his hands through his hair. But instead, he swipes a handful of pancake batter on his cheek.

Yelping in surprise, Thomas jumps back. “Newt!”

“Yes, Tommy?” Newt asks, feigning innocence and unable to hold back his chuckles.

Thomas huffs, reaching his hand in the bag of chocolate chips, then throwing a handful at Newt. It didn’t do enough damage to satisfy him, though, so he dips his fingers in the batter and goes to spread it across Newt’s face.

Newt moves out of the way, but he moves so that Thomas’s hand goes straight to his hair, and he laughs.

“Good luck getting that out,” Thomas snickers, rubbing his hair.

Leaning back against the counter, Newt smirks. “I guess I’ll just have to shower... And I guess you’ll just have to join me...” With that, he grabs Thomas by the waist and pulls him into his chest.

They slam their lips together, and they stand there, making out, covered in chocolate chips and pancake batter, with Newt’s hands gripping Thomas’s waist, and Thomas’s moving from Newt’s chest to his neck to his hair, all over the place.

“You’re not that hungry, are you?” Newt breathes out, pulling away.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Thomas blinks up at him. “I’m starving.”

Grin widening, Newt pulls Thomas back in for more.

-

“Let’s just stay here forever, Tommy,” Newt suggests, his thumb rubbing circles on Thomas’s cheek.

Thomas nods, closing his eyes. “Good that.” He pulls the blankets further up, snuggling closer to Newt and burying his face in his chest.

Pressing a kiss to Thomas’s hair, Newt sighs contently and lets his eyes fall shut.

Thomas finds Newt’s hand, and he holds it loosely, then traces his fingers around his palm, and up his arm. He feels the spots where his veins used to pop out as an ugly dark color, then he moves his hand up to the side of Newt’s neck, kissing it. When he pulls back, Newt smiles at him. And there it is. That smile. It never fails to make him feel okay, safe.

“If someone told me a year ago that I would be here right now, I would never believe them,” Thomas states.

“Be here, where? In a bed or in a cul-de-sac?”

Thomas chuckles lightly. “Be with you, you dumb shank.”

Smiling widely, Newt kisses Thomas quickly. “I love you too, Tommy.”

A knock on the door downstairs snaps them out of their daze. “Just ignore it, they’ll go away,” Thomas says when Newt starts to move. But the pounding keeps going, and then comes the yelling.

“Thomas! Newt!”

It’s a muffled shout, and Thomas can’t place the voice.

Groaning, Thomas rolls out of bed. He grabs his sweatshirt from the floor, and throws it on as Newt slips into his pants and t-shirt. Once they’re dressed, they run down the stairs.

Newt gets to the door first, opening it, and when Thomas catches up, he finds one of their neighbors, Caleb, standing there looking concerned.

“What’s up?” Thomas asks, stomach dropping.

Caleb shakes his head. “I - I think something’s wrong.”

“What?” Newt asks.

“I don’t know,” he answers. “But the berg hasn’t come yet.”

Sighing, Newt shakes his head. “It’s probably just late. No big deal.”

But Thomas doesn’t think so. He knew something felt weird. But how could something so small feel so disastrous? “Newt, maybe we should check this out.” He looks at Caleb. “We’ll be right there, okay?”

Newt shuts the door, turning to Thomas. “What the hell? What’s the point? It’s probably just running behind schedule.”

Thomas shakes his head. “No, I have a feeling there’s more to this.”

“Why?” Newt asks, stepping closer. He grabs Thomas’s hands, noticing how shaky he’s getting. “Tommy, you need to stop worrying about every little thing. Everything is okay.”

“No, listen to me,” Thomas pleads, pulling his hands away. “This berg comes and brings us supplies every month, right? Exact same day, exact same time. We don’t even know who these people are that are keeping us alive, and now suddenly they’re late? It doesn’t feel right.”

Newt hesitates, but finally lets out a long sigh. “Fine. I’ll check it out. For you.”

They get their shoes on, and then step outside. There’s already a crowd in the street, all standing and watching the sky, waiting for something.

“How late is it?” Thomas asks no one in particular.

“Couple hours,” a woman in front of them says.

Newt takes Thomas’s hand and they push their way through the crowd until they get to the front, where Minho stands with Brenda and Jorge.

“What are we gonna do?” Thomas asks them.

“I’m telling you, it’s not a big deal,” Newt insists.

Minho glances around, then looks at Thomas. “You, Newt, and I can walk down there, see if anything’s going on. Brenda, you and Jorge stay here and keep everyone calm.”

Brenda nods. “Okay. Hurry back.”

So without another word, the trio turns and walks away from the crowd, making their way down the hill and towards the abandoned strip mall.

“How was Jess with all this?” Thomas asks, looking over at Minho.

Minho shrugs. “A little freaked out. But she trusts us. It’ll be okay.”

This throw in routine is putting Thomas off, making him anxious. He sighs, squeezing Newt’s hand tighter.

“Deep breaths, Tommy,” Newt says soothingly. “Everything’s alright.”

When they finally get down to the store, Thomas lets go of Newt and runs ahead to the doors, opening them and entering first.

It’s empty.

Completely. Empty.

Of course, he wasn’t expecting any new clothes or food to be stocked, but there should have been leftover from last month. But instead, there’s only empty clothes racks, empty pantry shelves, and empty refrigerators.

Everything is gone.

“Whoa.”

“Bloody hell.”

Thomas suddenly snaps back to reality, and his breathing picks up, his heart racing and his eyes widening. “I told you,” he says, turning to face Newt. “I told you something was wrong. What the hell is going on?”

Newt shakes his head, looking around in shock. “I don’t know.”

“What are we gonna tell everyone else?” Minho asks. “We can’t tell them about this. They’ll freak out.”

“We’ll figure it out on the way. Come on, let’s get back.” Newt gently grabs Thomas’s arm, leading him towards the doors and back outside. “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out,” he promises, although Thomas can see the uncertainty in his eyes.

But all he can do is hope. Hope that they really will be okay, and so will everyone else. Hope that this is all just some sort of misunderstanding. Maybe they’re overreacting. Maybe Newt is right, and they all just need to stay calm. So Thomas takes some deep breaths, telling himself that everything is okay, and hoping he’s right.

But hope can be a deadly thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gang tries to get things in order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I know things might seem bland right now, but trust me, I have a plan. things will get so much juicier, so stick around!!!! I’m thinking next chapter we’ll really get into everything. Let me know what you think! Thanks!

“So what’s going on?” Caleb asks loudly as they get back to the group.

“We’re not sure yet,” Minho announces. “But we’ll figure it out. Just go back home and we’ll keep you updated.”

It takes a while for the crowd to clear away, but finally just Thomas and his friends are left on the street. “So?” Brenda asks, looking straight at Thomas. “What happened?”

Thomas glances around uncomfortably, feeling like there are a million eyes on him. “Come on,” he responds simply, turning and leading them back to his and Newt’s house.

“What is it, _hermano_?” Jorge asks when they get inside, shutting the door behind them.

Thomas looks at Newt and Minho. He’s done talking. He’s done leading. Minho takes the hint, looking from him to Jorge and Brenda. “It’s gone. Everything is gone. The shuck place is all cleared out.”

“So it is more than just a berg running behind schedule,” Brenda says, then looks back up at her friends. “Guys, if we’re all out of supplies, how long is the food in our homes gonna last us?”

“We can’t worry about that right now,” Newt says. “We need to — “

“What the hell are you talking about?” Thomas asks, staring at him incredulously. “That’s exactly what we need to worry about.”

Newt huffs. “We should worry about keeping everyone calm. Soon enough the others are going to realize something is up, and if we can’t keep order among them then what’s the point?”

Rolling his eyes, Thomas shakes his head. He knows that Newt has a point. “Fine. We need a way to organize everything, give certain people responsibilities.” He looks at Minho.

“Looks like we’re having a Gathering,” Minho sighs.

“With who?” Thomas asks. “Who here can we trust to help us out?”

Minho shrugs, thinking for a moment. “Us five, Frypan, Jess, and Caleb?”

Newt huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t like that guy.”

“I know you don’t,” Thomas says. “But get over it. He’ll wanna help.”

“Fine,” Newt finally agrees. “Let’s get started.”

Half an hour later, Thomas sits on a loveseat in the living room next to Newt, and Minho on a chair next to them, with Frypan sitting next to him on the floor. Jorge and Brenda have taken chairs from the dining room table and joined the half circle. Across from them all is Jess and Caleb, sitting on top of the coffee table nervously.

“How’s Jade doing?” Thomas asks.

Caleb nods. “Getting better, I think.”

“Good.” Thomas lets out a long breath. “Okay. Let’s get started, then.”

“With what, exactly?” Jess asks, obviously anxious.

“This here is what we call a Gathering,” Newt announces, looking between Caleb and Jess. “What we say in this house is to stay in this house. Is that understood?”

The two newcomers nod vigorously.

“Good. Minho? Wanna take over?”

Frypan chuckles. “Feels a bit like old times, doesn’t it?”

Thomas can’t help but feel bad for Caleb and Jess. He’s been on that side of a Gathering, having no idea what’s going on, feeling like he’s in trouble. It’s weird being the head of it, leading things again.

Minho nods once, leaning forward onto his knees. “We don’t know what exactly is wrong. We’re working on figuring it all out. But the store is empty. Everything is gone.”

It’s silent for a few moments, then Jess stands up. “How is that even possible? We would’ve noticed a berg come in and take everything.”

“We don’t know,” Minho answers. “That’s why we’re so worried.”

“What do you want us to do about it?” Caleb asks. “I mean, why’d you call just us?”

“Because we need all the help we can get to keep everyone calm. And we trust you,” Newt tells him. “So I would suggest not breaking that trust by running and telling the others about this.”

Jess sighs, sitting back down next to Caleb. “So what are we gonna do?”

This time Thomas speaks up, feeling like he needs to contribute. “We need to somehow ration out the food we already have. We only have so much. That’s where Frypan will come in.”

Nodding, Frypan takes a breath. “If I can get all the food in one place, I can split it up depending on the sizes of the families, and I can probably figure out how long we’ll last based on what we have. But I need you guys to get all the food. They’ll trust you. We don’t know for sure if they’ll feel the same about us.”

“What are we supposed to say?” Caleb asks. “We can’t just barge in their homes and take their food.”

“Tell them we’re taking precautions or something,” Thomas suggests. “Whatever you have to do. We also need to keep an eye on things down in the mall, see if anything changes. So while you guys help Frypan, the rest of us will take turns heading down there once in awhile and also making sure none of the others try and sneak down there. We don’t want them to know that we don’t have any supplies.”

It’s quiet for a few moments until Caleb speaks again. “This doesn’t feel right. Lying to them.”

“It’s for their own good,” Newt states. “We’re trying to keep order. If they knew the whole truth, there would be chaos.”

Jess nods, looking around. Her eyes eventually land on Minho, and they stay there. “Okay. I’m in.”

Nodding a bit, Minho reaches over and squeezes her hand. “Thank you.”

“Me too,” Caleb agrees, seeming hesitant at first.

Minho nods, seeming content. “Good. Let’s get to work.”

Frypan gets up and heads for the kitchen, and Jess and Caleb follow Minho to the front door. They’re about to leave and start to collect food from the others when there’s a soft knock on the door.

So Minho opens it, and there stands a small boy, looking up at them.

Jess sighs, picking the kid up. “Jack, I told you to stay at home for a few minutes.”

“I know. But I wanted to come see Minho,” Jack replies, smiling over her shoulder at Minho.

Jess chuckles, turning and looking at him. “Could you hang out with Jack for a bit while Caleb and I take care of that thing?”

“Of course,” Minho replies, taking Jack from Jess’s arms. “Should we go hang out at home, Jack-Jack?”

Jack nods, grinning. “Yeah. I got my blocks out. I wanna build a maze. Like the one you told me about.”

Minho bites the inside of his lip, smiling softly. The Gladers all glance at each other, then he turns back to Jack. “Whatever you want, kiddo. Let’s go.”

So they leave with Jess and Caleb, and only Thomas and Newt are left in the living room with Jorge and Brenda.

“I guess we’ll take first shift down at the mall?” Brenda suggests, glancing at Jorge.

“Sounds like a plan, _hermana_.”

“Be careful,” Newt says, hugging them quickly. “Come back immediately and let us know if anything changes.”

Brenda nods as they head out the door. “I doubt it will, but okay. See you in a bit.”

With the sound of the door shutting, the room falls into silence. Thomas can’t stop his leg from bouncing up and down as he leans forward and bites his nails anxiously. His stomach feels like it’s ready to take flight.

“Tommy?” Newt asks. “Are you — “

“I need a minute,” he says, suddenly getting to his feet and rushing to the stairs.

Newt chases him. “Wait, are you — “

“I’m fine,” Thomas says quickly, stopping. “Just give me a minute, I’ll be right back.” He doesn’t say anything else, running up the stairs.

He stops in the bathroom, slamming the door and catching himself on the countertop. He leans over the sink, feeling sick and dizzy. Taking deep, shaky breaths, Thomas turns on the faucet and splashes cold water on his face.

He jumps when there’s a knock on the door. “Tommy?”

Sighing, Thomas grabs a towel and dries his face. He tries to take more deep breaths to calm himself down, but nothing seems to work.

The door opens, and Newt stares him down with concern all over his face. “Tommy? Tommy, what’s wrong, love?”

Scoffing, Thomas throws the towel to the ground. “What isn’t?”

“We’re gonna figure this thing out. Just calm — “

“You keep saying that, Newt!” Thomas exclaims. “But when? We have no idea what’s going on, how are we supposed to figure it out?”

Newt pauses, shaking his head. “I don’t know, Tommy. But everything is gonna be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” Thomas says. “You’ll never know that for sure. We’ve never known _anything_ for sure.”

Sighing, Newt takes a moment to think. It’s hard to find the right words for this. “It’s different now. Things are so much different than when we first met. So, yeah, I have to believe that things are going to be okay. I know it.”

“No, you don’t know anything. None of us do. We don’t know anything about this place we live in, we don’t know anything about the people who have been bringing us our food, keeping us _alive_...” Thomas huffs, shaking his head and glancing to the side. “How have we been trusting these people for so long? They’ve been controlling us and — “

“Come on, that’s not true,” Newt insists. “We’ve been living for ourselves, doing what we want.”

Eyes widening as he stares in disbelief, Thomas rolls his eyes. “They’ve been in control this whole time. They’ve been providing for us, they decided if we lived or died. Face it, Newt. We have never been in control of anything in our lives, and we never will be.”

“That’s bullshit,” Newt says quickly. “I refuse to believe that I’ve been living all these years as a pawn for someone else. I live for myself and no one else. I am in control of my own life.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to start accepting it sooner or later. We can’t trust anyone.” And with that, Thomas turns and storms out of the bathroom.

He finds himself standing at the bottom of the stairs, feeling lost. What did he just do? He shouldn’t be angry at Newt, so why does it feel like he just snapped at him?

A few seconds later Newt taps him on the shoulder, spinning him around to face him. “Can’t trust anyone? We can trust each other. You trust me, right, Tommy?” he asks, looking afraid of the answer.

Thomas nods, the movement making tears welling in his eyes fall. “Of course, but — Why does this keep happening to us? Why us?”

Shaking his head, Newt pulls Thomas in close, wiping his face. “I have no bloody idea.”

“We’re never gonna be safe,” Thomas states, quietly crying into Newt’s chest. “We’re never — I thought we were safe. It’s never gonna end.” It’s been a long time since he’s panicked like this, but now that the thoughts have settled into his brain, he can’t stop it. He’s just so scared. How did the others ever trust him to be a stable leader?

But he knows it’s too late to reason with himself to calm down, so he lets it all out, and he allows himself to be held by Newt, who gently walks him over to the couch and lies him down, his head in Newt’s lap while Newt runs his fingers through his hair soothingly.

He doesn’t know how long it takes for him to calm down, but by the end of it his head is pounding and his eyes are sore. So he closes them and quickly drifts to sleep, with Newt contently holding him in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is when shit hits the fan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the delay in updates! So, if you read the rest of this series, you’ll probably recognize the end of this chapter from my last work in this series. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

It’s dark out when Thomas wakes up. Neither him nor Newt have moved, both in the same position snuggled up on the couch. He sighs, sitting up slowly. “Morning, sleepyhead,” Newt mutters, kissing his head.

“How’s everything going?” Thomas asks, looking around. He can hear Frypan shuffling around in the kitchen, trying to get things in order. “What time is it?”

“Late,” Newt answers. “Caleb is still going around to the houses, and Jess went back home to get Jack in bed. Minho’s in the kitchen with Fry.”

The sound of the door opening and shutting make Thomas sit up faster, relaxing when he sees Brenda and Jorge. “Your turn, boys,” Brenda announces. She plops down in the chair, looking exhausted.

“Anything interesting?” Minho asks, stepping out from the kitchen.

Jorge scoffs. “Nada. That was the most boring stakeout I’ve ever done.”

“Great,” Newt says, getting to his feet. “Let’s go, Tommy.”

It’s a little chilly out, now that the sun’s gone down. But Thomas doesn’t want to go back and grab a jacket, so he sucks it up and crosses his arms over his chest. They sit in silence for a couple hours in what once was a parking lot of a strip mall, the neighborhood behind them silent since most people have gone to bed.

Finally, Thomas just scoffs, shaking his head. “This is ridiculous.”

“What?”

“This.” Thomas looks around. “Why does this keep happening? We don’t even have a choice but to go along with what these people want because they’re the ones in charge of if we eat or not.”

“Who are you even talking about?”

Thomas sighs, rubbing his face. “I don’t know. WICKED? Whoever’s been messing with us.”

Newt scoots closer, grabbing Thomas’s hand. “We’re gonna figure this out, okay? Those shanks are gonna be sorry they ever messed with us.”

Thomas nods, not necessarily believing it. “I know.”

Suddenly Newt looks over to the door of the supermarket. He looks spooked. “What was that?”

Thomas’s stomach ties itself in a knot. “What?”

“I think I saw something move in there,” Newt says, slowly getting to his feet.

Thomas follows suit, standing up and grabbing Newt’s hand. “Newt, be careful.”

Holding a finger up to his lips, Newt squeezes Thomas’s hand. “Come on,” he whispers.

With that, he lets go of Thomas’s hand and enters the store. The lights are dim, making it hard to follow Newt. But he manages, finding the outline of his shadow and going after it. “Newt, wait up,” Thomas whispers loudly, picking up the pace.

The shadow disappears behind a shelf, and when Thomas turns the corner to keep following him, he’s gone. His heart races, looking around frantically. “Newt!”

He walks through the several rows of shelves, breath picking up as he freaks out. “ _Newt_!”

A hand on his shoulder makes him jump, and just as he’s turning around, he’s pushed into a shelf, his back pressing against the cold metal.

“Sh, Tommy,” Newt whispers, grinning. “We finally have some alone time.”

Letting out a long breath, Thomas hits Newt’s arm, but he doesn’t make any effort to push him away. “Don’t do that! You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Newt says, not sounding very apologetic. Thomas can see the outline of his wide smile on his face, and he can’t help but roll his eyes and smile softly right back. Newt leans forward, pressing their lips together and trailing his hands down to find Thomas’s hands.

But Thomas slips his hands away, taking Newt’s wrists and putting his hands on his waist. “If you’re gonna scare me like that, you better make it count,” he mutters against Newt’s lips. It’s hard to believe how easy it is for him to let his worries slip away when he’s around Newt, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

Newt smirks against Thomas’s mouth, tugging at the hem of his shirt. “Oh, I will, Tommy.”

Thomas pulls away for a moment, slipping his shirt off and letting it drop to the ground. Newt does the same, then grabs Thomas again and pulls him close. Their lips move together as Thomas steps backward and Newt steps forward, pushing him into the back wall.

A few minutes later, the sound of footsteps snaps Thomas out of his haze. He nudges Newt away, eyes wide.

“Tommy?” Newt asks, confused.

Thomas shushes him. “Someone’s here.”

Newt quickly bends down and finds their shirts on the ground, tossing Thomas his and throwing his own on. “I don’t here any — “

“Thomas!” comes the shout. “Newt!”

It’s Minho. But not exactly. He sounds different. Scared.

Thomas puts his shirt on fast, following Newt out from between the shelves and finding Minho running down an aisle to them.

“Minho?” Newt asks, slowing down and grabbing his arm. “What’s wrong?”

Out of breath, Minho looks between the two of them with panicked eyes. “It’s... It’s Jack... He’s gone.”

Stomach dropping, Thomas does his best not to freak out again. “Okay... Okay... What do you mean?” Usually Minho is the cool and collected one, so it’s weird trying to stay calm for him.

“He’s gone! We can’t find him!” Minho exclaims.

“What exactly happened?” Newt asks. “Come on, take some deep breaths.”

Minho takes a few moments to try and catch his breath, then starts over. “Jess put him to bed, and I was over at your house helping Fry. When he was asleep, she left to go help Caleb again. And we do that all the time — we leave him at home after he goes to sleep to go hang out with you or Fry or Brenda, and there’s never been a problem. But when I went over to check on him he was gone.”

“You checked with the neighbors?” Newt asks.

“Yeah. No one’s seen him,” Minho answers, nodding.

Thomas sighs. “Okay. Let’s go back up, and we’ll figure out what to do there.”

-

Back at the house, Jess is freaking out, and Brenda is trying to calm her down.

“Where’s Caleb?” Newt asks, looking around.

“He went home,” Jorge answers. “After Jess’s kid went missing, he wanted to stay with his daughter.”

Thomas nods. “That’s probably smart,” he comments.

Minho looks between Newt, Thomas and Jorge. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Who would take him?” Jess asks, hysterical as Minho squeezes her hand.

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” Thomas huffs in annoyance.

Minho’s gaze meets his. “You don’t think it’s actually...?”

“Who else would it be?”

“It doesn’t matter who it is right now,” Newt interjects. “What do we do?”

Everyone seems to be at a loss for words. What _can_ they do? They don’t even know what part of the world they’re in, how would they figure out where Jack is?

Jorge finally speaks up. “We keep an even closer eye on things around here. If you guys see anything suspicious, you come tell us at this house, okay?”

“Not just suspicious activity,” Newt decides. “Everything. I want to know everything that’s going on. If there’s even a brick out of the place in the street, you come tell me.”

The room is silent, everyone so taken aback by Newt’s leadership. He reminds Thomas a lot of Alby back in the Glade, and that’s almost scary.

“We’re just supposed to spy on everyone?” Brenda asks.

Newt’s head snaps up to look at her. “Would you rather just wait around for another kid to disappear?”

Putting her hands up in defense, Brenda steps back. “Okay, sorry.”

Newt takes a deep breath, trying to calm down and rubbing his face. “Okay... Everybody go home, we’re done for tonight. Come back tomorrow, first thing.”

As the others file out, Frypan comes out of the kitchen. “It’s pretty much all there. I managed to split it up for each household for breakfast, and when we come over tomorrow I’ll bring those to the houses.”

“Thanks, Fry,” Thomas says, nodding and hugging him. “Get some sleep.”

“You too.” Frypan hugs Newt, sighing. “Sweet dreams, shanks.”

When the door shuts, Newt and Thomas are left in silence. “I can’t believe this,” Thomas says quietly.

“We’ll figure it out,” Newt assures, for what seems like the hundredth time. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Thomas rolls his eyes. “You have to stop saying that if you don’t actually believe it.”

“I do believe it,” Newt insists, leaning against the back of the couch.

“How?” Thomas asks. “How do you not give up hope after everything?”

Shaking his head, Newt shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess... I mean, I know what hopeless feels like. And this just isn’t it.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Thomas breathes out, collapsing on the couch. “I feel like the world is ending and I’m just watching it happen.”

“Trust me, Tommy.” Newt plops down next to him, grabbing his hand. “The world ended long before this. We’re just the aftermath.”

“Doesn’t this feel familiar to you at all?” Thomas asks, sitting up and looking at Newt straight on.

“What do you mean?”

Sighing, Thomas bites his lip. “Like... Back in the Glade. Our supplies stopped coming. People started getting taken, one by one. I mean, all that’s left is for the sky to turn gray.”

Newt is quiet for a moment, and Thomas studies his face. He sees a wave of recognition wash over him, then a look of dread in his eyes, but he barely even moves. “This is nothing like the Glade,” Newt insists.

Thomas scoffs. “Come on. Yes it is. We all live in this place as a community, we have no idea where we are, we get all of our food and clothes from an unknown source.”

“We’re not trapped,” Newt argues. “There’s no maze around us.”

“There might not be a wall, but we _are_ trapped, Newt. Who would ever leave? We have no idea what’s out there.”

Newt gets to his feet, and Thomas does too. “We can leave anytime we want, we just choose not to.”

Fed up with this, Thomas stares at him incredulously. “You’re so desperate to forget about the Maze that you refuse to see what’s right in front of you.”

“There’s nothing to see!” Newt says, raising his voice. “I told you, we’re going to figure this out.”

“And I told _you_ , this has all been a trick!” Thomas screams. “It’s WICKED! It’s always been WICKED!”

Newt, hands balled into fists at his sides, steps forward, voice lowering. “WICKED is gone. They found the cure, I’m living proof. There’s no need for them anymore.”

“You know them,” Thomas argues. “Just because they reach a goal doesn’t mean they don’t think there’s more damage to try and fix.”

“You know what I think?” Newt asks quietly.

“What’s that?”

“I think that you’re so in love with the idea of being a hero and having everyone look up to you that you are just dying to get back in all that action. You _want_ WICKED to be back, and you _want_ to save everyone.”

Completely taken aback, Thomas steps back. “ _Are you crazy_? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Newt doesn’t say a word, only stares angrily.

“That’s a crank talking. Because I know that you know I would never want to go back to that life. It nearly killed me, and not just literally.” Still, Newt stays quiet, and finally Thomas gives up. “I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow.”

And with that, he turns and storms up the stairs.

As soon as he hears the bedroom door shut, Newt lets himself go. Arms and palm itching and throbbing, he instinctively grabs his hand and rubs it. It takes a long time for him to work up the courage to look, but eventually he just does it. He rolls up his sleeve.

There’s nothing. Just skin and normal colored veins.

Letting out a relieved breath, he rolls the sleeve back down and goes to the kitchen.

There it is again. That itch in the back of his head.

 _Shit. Oh God_.

It’s probably fine. Just another small episode. It’s happened before, no need to wake Thomas and worry him. It’s just because there’s been a lot going on today. Too much activity and mental and emotional stress can cause this. At least that’s the conclusion that they had come to last time.

No, he doesn’t need to cause any unnecessary stress. He can deal with it.

Newt looks down at his hands. There’s shaking. He repeatedly balls them into fists, trying to figure out what to do. It’s strange. He’s suddenly so aware of them, and it feels like there’s something crawling under his skin. He needs to do something, _hit something_.

He lets himself do it, knowing it’s the only way to calm himself down.

His fist swings into the wall, and he accidentally lets out a scream along with it. A throat ripping, ear ringing scream. Hand flying to his mouth, he releases a sob and falls into the wall, feeling like he can’t even hold himself up anymore. He hits the wall again, harder. It’s not enough.

So he doesn’t stop.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas just needed some alone time, and everything went wrong.

Thomas hears the first scream while he’s getting changed. Then as he slips a sweatshirt over his head, he hears something hit the floor. The sound of glass breaking. He immediately freezes up. That sounds familiar.

He stands there for probably fifteen seconds, trying to figure out how to handle this, before he hears another thump. No glass this time. Slowly, as quietly as possible, he make his way down the hall, then down the stairs.

He stops at the landing, where he can hide behind the wall and peek his head around.

Newt looks enraged. But also scared. He should go down there, help him. But the last time they tried that Minho got hurt pretty badly. So he stands there, waiting, watching, as Newt throws pillows and books and glasses and punches the floor and the wall, and anything he can see, really.

It’s the next scream that finally snaps him out of it. Newt releases an ear splitting, blood-chilling sound as he connects his already bloody, bruised fists with the wall again.

Thomas practically jumps out of his skin, stumbling back up the stairs and climbing into bed.

 _It’s okay_ , he tells himself. _It’s happened before, and there’s a perfectly good reason for it._

Still, he can’t figure out a way to block out the sound. With every crash, with every sob, and with every shout, he cowers deeper and deeper under the covers, his eyes shut tight as if that will get rid of the terrible sounds.

He doesn’t know how long it is before it all stops. But when it does, he stays right where he is, hidden under the blanket, curled up and facing away from the door. Then a few minutes later he hears the door open, and feels the weight shift on the mattress as Newt climbs into bed with him and wraps his arms around his waist.

Thomas can’t help but tense up, paranoid as all hell. Is this really Newt? Has he past the Gone? But peeking his eyes out of the sheets, he looks at the arm draped over him and studies it. As far as he can tell, nothing is out of place.

“I don’t know if you’re asleep,” Newt whispers finally. “But I know you probably heard that. I just wanted to let you know I’m okay. I feel fine now.”

It takes a moment for Thomas to figure out how to respond, not believing that at all. “Just go to sleep,” he finally whispers.

So they just lay there, Newt eventually drifting off the sleep, terrified that Thomas is afraid of him, and Thomas not falling asleep at all.

-

It feels like he’s suffocating. He needs to get out of there, maybe get some fresh air.

So after he’s sure Newt has fallen asleep, Thomas gently nudges his arm away and gets out of bed. He slowly makes his way to the door, and as soon as he’s out in the hallway he runs. Down the stairs, quickly slipping on his shoes, then out the door.

And then he’s stuck. He doesn’t know where to go or what to do. He could go see Minho. Last time this happened, he went straight to Minho. But that would just make him worry more. He’s already freaked out about Jack. And Brenda is probably exhausted from today.

No, maybe he should just be alone for a bit. He’ll give himself time to calm down and think a little, then go back home and get a few hours of sleep before morning.

So Thomas sighs, starting to walk down the street. Cold, he pulls the sleeves of his sweatshirt over his hands.

At first he was just going to walk a little, no destination, just try and relax a little. But his eyes find the old strip mall, and the supermarket, and he decides to take another look. They have to be missing something.

Of course, everything is still the same. Empty shelves and clothes racks and refrigerators.

He’s so lost. How was he ever able to lead anyone? He doesn’t even know how to help Newt, so how is he supposed to help everyone in the Safe Haven?

 _Safe Haven_. Ha. That’s hilarious. WICKED must be laughing their faces off right now. They’ve managed to trick them into thinking they’re safe more than once, and now it’s all happening again.

Thomas has been sitting on the ground for about ten minutes, and he doesn’t even realize he had sat down until a sound brings him back to reality. It’s a low hum. A quiet buzz, but loud enough that he can faintly hear it.

_A berg._

Jumping to his feet, Thomas looks around. He doesn’t know whether to feel hopeful or scared. Finally, he works up the courage to peek, going out the door. In front of him is the empty strip mall, then the big hill that leads up to their houses. Turning around, he looks up. Behind the store, above the trees that surround them in the distance, a berg is hovering... No, not hovering. Landing.

Can the others hear it? Thomas glances back. No. They’re too far away.

He’s really regretting coming down here alone now. Walking around to the side of the building, he watches the outline of the trees, and he sees the dark figures emerging, coming straight towards him.

He presses himself against the wall so they can’t see, continuing to watch. Should he try and talk to these people? Are they even here to help?

As he watches them walk — Wait. No, they’re running. They’re running towards him, and as they get closer, Thomas is able to make out their figures. Dark green suits. A few letters sewn onto the chests. He has a pretty good guess what those letters are. There are at least five of them, and they’re each holding something big.

Guns. Guns and launchers.

Heart plummeting, Thomas doesn’t think twice before ducking back inside the supermarket. He looks around frantically. There’s nowhere to go. Running back to Newt isn’t an option. It’s too far, and he would just be bringing these people with weapons into their home. It’s too dangerous.

So he does the only thing he can. He hides.

Thomas books it down the center aisle, finding a back room that was probably used for storage. The only thing in it now is an empty shelf. He pushes himself back in the corner behind the shelf, breathing heavily but trying to hold his breath.

What do they want?

He jumps when he hears the door to the store slam open. They’re getting closer.

Thomas instinctively puts his hand over his mouth when he hears the storage room door open. Footsteps walking to one side of the room, then getting closer and closer to him.

He feels the need to scream for help. But that wouldn’t help anything. So he finds the person in the room. He watches their feet under the shelf, their shadow getting closer.

And the second the person rounds the corner to face him, he’s ready. He runs at them, kicking their chest and grabbing the launcher from them as they stumble back.

“Don’t move,” Thomas says quietly, pointing the launcher. “What do you want?”

“Just following orders,” the man says, putting his hands up.

Before Thomas can say anything else, there’s a shout at the door. “Put it down!”

Spinning around, he finds two guns and a launcher being pointed at him. He swiftly grabs the man and holds the launcher to his head. “Leave me alone. Leave now or I swear I’ll fry his brain.”

“Listen, kid,” a woman says, holding a gun. “We have orders not to kill you. Doesn’t mean we can’t shoot you in the foot. I’d watch it if I were you.”

“What do you _want_?” Thomas repeats. “Answer me!”

A man speaks this time. “Careful. It’s four against one.”

Thomas pauses, confused as he counts the weapons facing him. “There are only three of you.”

Then pain erupts in his skull, and he finds himself falling to the ground, the launcher slipping from his hands.

He’s suddenly dizzy, but he quickly gets back to his feet and as far away from the people as possible. They all turn their weapons on him now. “What do you want?” Thomas asks, stumbling back.

He now sees the man that hit him. He’s big and almost scary looking, holding a launcher. As he steps toward Thomas, he talks into his earpiece. “We got him,” he says. “Heading back now.” Then he roughly grabs Thomas’s arm, pulling him along.

Thomas thrashes around, his heart nearly bursting through his chest. He can’t remember the last time he was so scared. “Get off of me!” he screams, trying to slip his arm from the man’s grasp.

But somehow the man is able to readjust his grip so he holds both of his wrists behind his back. “Quit your crying, kid.”

“ _Let me go_!” Thomas tries to push the man and elbow him, does all he can to struggle against him. They finally make it out of the building, and they start dragging him toward the berg, away from his friends. Finally he resorts to screaming hysterically. “ _Newt! Help! Minho! Get the hell off of me! Newt_!”

“Shut the hell up,” one of the women says, turning around, annoyed. “Or we can always make you.”

Thomas’s eyes land on her suit. The letters on the fabric. W.I.C.K.E.D. He was right. Dread courses through him, and he becomes even more desperate as he pulls against the man. “No, stop, please. I can’t go back there. I can’t. Please — _please_ , just let me go.” The man’s grip only tightens. “I can’t go back! _Get off of me!”_

Finally, Thomas raises his foot and brings it back into the man’s knee. He lets out a cry of pain and lets go, and Thomas takes his opportunity to bolt. He hasn’t run this fast in a long time. “ _Newt! Minho_!”

“Just do it,” the man says, the one who was holding him. “He’ll be fine.”

Thomas doesn’t take the time to look back, but he knows what’s coming and it almost makes him wish he had cooperated. But it’s too late now. He picks up his pace.

And just as he reaches the bottom of the hill, he feels the pain. It’s all over. Tendrils of electricity snake all over his body as he falls to the ground, screaming.

He thrashes around for a few moments, crying out before it becomes too much. Everything hurts too much, and he’s too lightheaded to try and move anymore. So he lets the pain take over, and lets himself slip into darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

There’s a strange calm that’s settled in Newt when he wakes up in the morning. He feels so much better than last night. Actually, he doesn’t really register what happened. He remembers it, and he knows it was him, but it feels like that was so far away. That is, until he feels his hand. He can barely open and close his fist, his knuckles are so scraped up and bruised.

“Morning — “ He stops. There’s no one on the other side of the bed. He remembers getting into bed with Thomas last night. Oh well. Usually he’s the first one up, but Thomas probably got up early to get a head start on things.

Groggily, he gets out of bed and brushes his teeth, then heads down the stairs. “Thomas?” he calls when he gets to the empty living room. That’s when something starts to feel off. It’s so quiet. He goes to the kitchen. The only thing in there is a bunch of food. “Tommy?”

After a knock on the door, he hears it open, and Frypan’s voice calls out. “Rise and shine, we’re here!”

Newt rushes out, finding Minho and Frypan in the living room, closing the door behind them. “Is Tommy with you?” he asks.

“Um, no,” Minho answers, taken aback. His eyes look so tired. He probably didn’t sleep much last night. “In case you forgot, he lives with you.”

“Newt, what’s wrong?” Frypan asks, concerned.

Newt shakes his head. “He was here last night when I went to bed and now he’s gone.”

There’s a silence, and Minho and Frypan seem to just notice the mess in the living room. The broken glass and the pillows and books all over the place. “What happened?” Minho asks, already knowing the answer.

Sighing, Newt rubs his face. He doesn’t want to talk about this. “That’s not important right now. Thomas is — “

“We’ll find Thomas,” Minho interrupts quickly. “What happened, Newt?”

He hesitates, but finally glances between between Fry and Minho and sits down on the couch. “I had another one...”

Minho sits across from Newt in a chair, and Frypan takes a seat next to him. “Maybe if you just tell us exactly what happened last night and when you last saw Thomas we can figure this out.”

Newt nods. “Okay. Well, we got in a fight about everything that’s going on. And he went to bed, and I stayed down here and got all... crank-y.”

“What did Thomas say about that? Your relapse?” Minho asks.

“Nothing,” Newt answers, shaking his head. “He stayed upstairs, and when I went up he didn’t mention it.”

“Well, that’s healthy,” Frypan breathes out sarcastically, looking at the ground.

Minho sighs. “Nothing else happened?”

“No. I went up to bed and fell asleep, and he was gone when I woke up.”

The door opens, and Brenda enters with Jorge. “Morning. Where’s Thomas?”

“We don’t know,” Minho answers, getting to his feet.

Frypan heads for the kitchen. “I’m gonna go get started getting families their breakfast.”

“What the hell do you mean you don’t know?” Brenda asks, concern all over her face. “He was just here last night.”

“Yeah, and so was Jack,” Minho snaps. “Look where we are now.”

Jorge leans against the wall, crossing his arms. “So? What now?”

Minho waits for Newt to answer, but when he looks back and sees his friend unable to sit still, biting his nails anxiously, running his hands through his hair, he knows he’s in no place to be in charge. So he takes control, suddenly letting all of his anxiety leave his body. “You guys stay here and wait for Jess and Caleb, and help Fry. Newt and I will go look around right now.”

So after going around and asking every single person if they’ve seen Thomas, Minho and Newt head down to the old strip mall. The whole walk down the hill his torture for Newt. It feels like he’s just getting closer and closer to something terrible. Everything feels off and just _bad_ , not knowing that Thomas is okay.

The supermarket is the first place they go. But nothing is out of place, other than it being completely empty. They go back outside, and Minho goes around the building while Newt stands in the middle of the lot, looking around for any sign, of anything, really.

“Let’s go back,” Newt calls. “He’s not here.”

Minho huffs, coming back around the building. “We need to sort this clunk out. What else are we supposed to do to find them?”

“I’ll do anything,” Newt replies as they start heading back. “I’m getting desperate.”

“What’s that?” Minho asks, stopping in his tracks.

Newt plants his feet, looking over. “What?”

Minho points at a spot on the ground. Right at the bottom of the hill. They both run over. The grass in the area is all green. Except for this one spot. It looks dead. Burnt.

“A launcher,” Minho says, confirming what they’re both thinking. “Great. Awesome. This is just awesome.” He glances around, running his hands through his hair nervously.

“Keep looking,” Newt says. “There might be something else. Maybe whoever took him dropped something, I don’t know. Just look.”

So soon they’re both down on their hands and knees, feeling around in the grass and looking for any possible sign of Thomas or his captors. Finally Newt’s fingers find something. It’s hard, and when he picks it up he sees the wood, the shape it’s carved into. Chuck’s figurine. The one Thomas refuses to stop keeping in his pocket.

“Minho!” Newt shouts, getting up. He rushes over, and Newt holds it up. “Look. It’s Chuck’s.”

Minho’s eyes widen. “What now? What do we do?”

“I’m going,” Newt says quickly. “I don’t care what anyone says. I don’t care if anyone comes with me. I’m leaving. I’m going to find Jack, and I’m going to bring him and Tommy home, or I’m gonna die trying.”

A smile suddenly appears on Minho’s face, even if this isn’t the most appropriate time to be laughing. “This is why Alby made you second in command... I’m with you.”

-

Thomas can’t tell where he is. It’s dark. But he knows he’s moving. He can hear the buzz of the berg. Muscles still sore, he groans as he slowly gets to his feet. “Hey!” he calls. “Let me out!” He walks forward, finding a wall and what feels like a door, but when he turns the handle he finds it locked. “Let me _out_!” he screams again, starting to bang on the door.

He feels so disoriented. He doesn’t even know what time it is. Has Newt noticed he’s gone yet?

Finally he gives up, sliding down the wall until he’s sitting on the ground. He doesn’t want to give these people the satisfaction of knowing that he’s terrified.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang tries to come up with a plan while Thomas faces an old friend and a new enemy

The second he hears a sound other than his own breathing, Thomas is on his feet. He braces himself to fight as he watches the small crack of light in the door grow bigger and bigger until he has to shield his face to let his eyes adjust. All he can see is two figures approaching him, and he instinctively backs away from them, but they grab either one of his arms and start dragging him toward the door.

“Get off me!” he shouts, refusing to make this any easier for them. He pulls against them, kicking and thrashing and trying to plant his feet on the ground.

“I wouldn’t, kid,” one of the men say, his hand tightening around Thomas’s wrist. “We have permission to put you down again if you’re too much trouble.”

As if on cue, they turn a corner and he’s met with a group of four guards holding launchers. They stop walking, and he stops struggling, terrified. But he won’t let them know that, so he laughs softly. “You need six people and four weapons just to handle a kid? Some business you’re running here.”

“Just a precaution,” one of the guards across from him says. “We were warned about you.”

“By who?”

“Hi, Thomas.”

Immediately he spins around, managing to push the two men off of him. He faces her, unable to move himself, stunned into silence. She’s here. She’s standing right in front of him, not even looking guilty. She went back to them.

Before he knows it, she’s taking a step toward him, bringing her hand up to his cheek. But he shoves it aside, stepping back only to have his arms grabbed roughly again. “Get away from me,” he says, disgust in his tone. He almost wants to exaggerate it, to show how angry he is.

Teresa sighs. “Thomas — “

“No. Don’t make excuses,” Thomas says. “I’m done with this. This was your last chance to prove yourself and you did a pretty bang up job of it.”

“Well, you didn’t give me much choice, did you?” Teresa asks. “You kicked me out, you didn’t _give_ me a chance.”

Thomas rolls his eyes. “I gave you too many.”

There’s a moment of silence, then Teresa goes on talking as if their conversation never happened. “We’re here,” she says to the guards holding Thomas. “Confine him and take him to Test Room B. I’ll see him soon.”

And with that, she turns and leaves the room. Thomas starts to look around and take in his surroundings, but before he can get his gaze settled on anything or anyone, his vision goes black. It takes less than a split second for him to realize he didn’t close his eyes or pass out, but that a bag was placed over his head, and as he starts to look around his hands are pulled behind his back. He can feel metal wrapping around his wrists, he can hear the click, and that’s when he starts panicking.

“Stop, let me go!” he shouts, pulling against the people pushing him. “Where are you taking me?”

The two guards holding him stop walking, and the one on his right leans in and to talk in his ear. He can hear the sarcastic smile in his voice as he says, “Test Room B.”

As he’s dragged through the berg, out the hatch, and into the light, the only thing Thomas can see against the black fabric of the bag is Newt’s face. He can see Newt, anxiously searching for him, freaking out when he discovers that he’s missing.

Or does he even care? Was last night the last of Newt he’ll ever see? After that, he could be past the Gone by now.

The only thing he knows for sure is that he’s afraid. He can’t remember the last time he was truly this terrified, so scared for his life.

And no matter how dangerous this may be, he can’t help but hope that he comes. He can’t get out of this alone, and he sure as hell can’t get through this without Newt.

-

“So what’s the plan?” Jess asks, worried. “We can’t just sit around and wait for someone else to disappear.”

“We’re not going to,” Newt answers. “Minho and I are going to find him.”

Caleb scoffs. “You can’t go alone. I’ll come with.”

“Me too,” Jess volunteers.

Shaking his head, Minho leans forward in his chair. He looks around at everyone at the dining room table, all focused on the task at hand and staring at him intently. “No. Caleb, you’re staying here. You have a daughter to take care of. And Jess, you’re one of the only people I trust to run things around here.”

“What about them?” Jess asks, motioning to Brenda, Jorge, and Frypan.

“They’re coming with us. They have more experience with combat,” Newt answers.

Jess rolls her eyes. “I won’t just sit around and do nothing. Those people have my son!”

“And we’ll get him back, but — “

Brenda clears her throat, and all the attention turns to her. “Guys, let her go. She’s right, it’s her son. Jorge and I will be fine on our own.”

“I don’t want you getting hurt,” Minho says to Jess, frowning.

“I’ll be fine. I don’t care if you’re happy about it, Minho, but I’m going.”

Finally Minho lets out a long sigh. “Fine. Okay.”

“I wanna help too,” Caleb says. “Let me come.”

Newt rolls his eyes. “No. Just stay here and help.”

“Come on,” Caleb groans. “I know how to fight, remember? Just ask Tommy.”

Everyone jumps when Newt slams his hands down on the table and jumps to his feet. He grabs Caleb by the shirt and pushes him into the wall. “I would watch your mouth if I were you,” he says quietly, threateningly.

Minho gets to his feet, pulling Newt away. “Calm down, man.”

“He’s not coming,” Newt insists. “I don’t even like him, why is here?”

“You may not like him but you can trust him,” Frypan says, standing up as well. “I’m gonna need to stay here and take care of getting everyone food. So it’s a good idea for you to have an extra set of hands out there. Let him go.”

Before Newt can reject, Minho nods. “Fine. Newt, Caleb, Jess, and I will go. Jorge, Brenda, and Frypan, you guys will be okay here?”

They all nod, and Jess stands up. “So what’s the strategy?”

“Weapons,” Minho answers. “I put the weapons from our old Safe Haven somewhere people wouldn’t get it. We’ve never had much reason for guns before now.”

“Clothes, too,” Newt interjects. “We’re gonna be walking, so we need to be careful about what we wear. Jess and Caleb, go home and change. Wear running shoes, pants or shorts, and a short sleeved shirt. Grab a light jacket too.”

As they leave, Frypan starts making his way to the kitchen. “I’ll get some food ready for you guys. You don’t know how long you’ll be out there for.”

“I’ll go get those weapons,” Minho announces, sighing.

“Yeah, where did you hide those, anyway?” Brenda asks.

Grinning, Minho chuckles. “There’s some garages down by the mall. They were probably used for storage. Anyway, I found a padlock and key and put them all in one of them.”

Minho leaves, and Newt sits back down at the table, looking defeated.

Brenda sighs. “Listen, Newt. I know you don’t like Caleb much — “

“I constantly want to throw him out of a window.”

That makes Jorge chuckle, but he leans forward with a serious expression. “You have to work together with him, _hermano_. You have no idea what’s waiting for you past those trees out there.”

“I know, I know.” Newt gets to his feet. “I’ll go get ready, I guess.”

Before he can walk away, though, Brenda gets up and grabs his wrist, pulling him in for a long hug. “Be careful,” she says softly. He hasn’t heard her sound so scared before.

“I will,” Newt promises, wrapping his arms around her. “We’ll be okay. We all will.”

Brenda pulls away, lips pursed as she nods. “Just bring him home. Please.”

“I miss him too,” Newt says, reading right through her words. “You be careful too. Take care of things around here.”

And with that, he turns and leaves the room. He can’t remember the last time he was so anxious and scared all at once. And there’s not even anything he can do to help himself. He knows that no matter what happens, something is going to happen. And he knows it’ll be big. It might be devastating, but they can’t avoid it. He just hates that they have to walk straight into it.

-

Within half an hour, Thomas is changed into a light blue t-shirt and gray sweatpants, sat in a room on what looks like a hospital bed but scarier. Less comfortable, with straps attached to ledges on each side and corner. His legs are hanging off the edge, palms on the bed, ready to push himself off and brace for fighting when someone comes in. He’s already tried the door; it’s locked. And the windows must be one way, because he can’t see out of them at all. It’s just a mirror.

At the clicking sound of a lock, Thomas jumps to his feet. And the sight of Teresa really makes him feel like fighting.

“Calm down, Tom,” Teresa says, shutting the door behind her. She’s holding a clipboard, but she sets it down on a table on her way over to him. “I told them they didn’t need to strap you in, but if you don’t cooperate it’s not too late to change my mind.”

He hates her. He really hates her. And it hurts to admit that. But he does. “What was the point of the bag over my head?” he asks. “You had a bunch of weapons pointed at me. You think I’d be dumb enough to try anything?”

“We don’t know what forms of communication you have with the others,” Teresa explains. “So we couldn’t let you have a location for our base.”

Thomas scoffs, rolling his eyes and sitting back down. “I can’t believe this. I trusted you.”

“And I’m done trying to earn that,” Teresa says quickly. “I believe that I am doing good work. I’m trying to help people, so if you don’t trust me, that’s fine. Just let me do my job.”

Thomas just wants to scream. He wants to fight his way out of here, find his way back to Newt. But he knows that’s hopeless. He’s trapped here with Teresa, and he would rather be anywhere else in the world right now. “Why am I here? What’s the point of this? Are you starting an annual check up policy?”

“As of right now that’s classified information,” Teresa says simply, grabbing her clipboard and turning pages back and forth.

“Are you serious?” Thomas asks. “What, so you - you kidnap me, keep me locked up, and you won’t even tell me why?” There’s a few moments of silence, but before Teresa responds he continues. “We were friends, Teresa. I trusted you. We all trusted you. And you betrayed us. I know I only have a few memories from before, but you’ve changed. A lot.”

Teresa shakes her head. “No. If you had your memories, you would know that I haven’t changed. I have the same beliefs now that I did then. WICKED is good. We are trying to do good.”

“You’ve tried,” Thomas replies. “You’ve _tried_. You got the cure, yeah. You saved a lot of people. But you killed more people than you saved. So what was the point?” He stands up, stepping toward her slowly. “It never mattered to you. You didn’t care who got caught in the crossfire as long as you got the damn Cure... Well you have it, so why not just stop? What more do you want that you’re willing to kill my friends for?”

Teresa is silent. She stares at him, unfazed, as he goes off on her, and when he’s finally quiet, she just takes a deep breath. “Tom, I’m going to tell you something. But only because I know you’ll think twice before doing something stupid around here if you’re aware of it.”

Unable to hold back an eye roll, Thomas crosses his arms. “What?”

Teresa sighs, then steps back and looks down. “Something is wrong. With the Cure.”

Thomas’s heart sinks. His mind is immediately on Newt. The relapses. The cranking out. Maybe it’s not normal. Of course, he knew deep down that they had just been making up excuses to not think about it. But now, he can’t deny that he knew something was wrong with Newt. He just couldn’t admit it to himself.

It all just hurts too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Comment please and let me know what you thought!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short update! Don’t worry, Newt and Thomas will see each other again in the next chapter!

It feels the ground is about to swallow him up. Dizzy and scared, Thomas takes a deep breath and tries to keep it together. “What the hell do you mean, something’s wrong? You — You figured it out. Years ago. The world is supposed to be getting better by now.”

“Well, it’s not,” Teresa replies, picking up her clipboard again. “We got something wrong. It happens.”

Thomas stares at her in disbelief. “No, Teresa. It doesn’t just happen. You can’t make a cure for a disease that’s wiping out the human population and just make a mistake.”

Teresa huffs, stepping toward him. “I know that, Tom. Sit back down.”

But he shakes his head, scoffing. “No, get away from me.”

Sighing, Teresa runs a hand through her hair stressfully. Her eyes look tired. She’s probably been working hours on end, but Thomas has no sympathy for her. “Listen, Tom — “

“Don’t call me that.”

“I know you’re worried about Newt. But if we work together we can — “

“What did you say?”

Teresa pauses. “What?”

“I never said anything about Newt,” Thomas says.

Teresa shuts her mouth, staying silent for a moment.

“Have you been... _Have you been watching us?_ ” Thomas spits out, disgusted. Once again, she’s quiet, and he scoffs and pushes past her. “Let me out of here.” He runs to the door, trying to turn the knob but finding it locked. “Let me out!” He bangs on the door.

“Thomas, sit back down before I have to call for a sedative,” Teresa warns.

Thomas stops, turning back around and facing her. “Go ahead. Do it. Cause I’m not gonna stop fighting.”

“Not even for Newt?” Teresa asks. When Thomas stays silent, she continues. “He’s been having relapses. We know. But you can help. Why do you think I brought you here? Cause I wanted to catch up? No. I brought you here because I believe that you are our last hope. You were the top candidate in the original trials. So maybe you can help now. Maybe you can get us to a real solution to this problem. Maybe you can save Newt.”

Thomas has to admit. He has a hard time arguing with that. If he can do something to help Newt, why would he run away?

Finally, he looks back up and nods. “Fine. But no one gets hurt. If someone gets even a scratch, I’m out. Deal?”

Before Teresa can agree, the door opens, and a tall man with a headset peeks his head in. “Teresa,” he says. “We just received word that his friends are on their way. They’ve just made it a few miles outside of their square.”

Teresa nods. “Is A5 with them?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Get a team ready. However many you think is necessary. Take a berg and gather them up.”

The man leaves, and Thomas thinks for a moment. A5... A5... _Newt_.

He suddenly feels dizzy.

“Wait, no. What do you want Newt for?”

“He could become dangerous, Thomas. We need to confine him and do some tests.”

“No! I didn’t agree to that.” Thomas steps back. “Leave him alone. Tell them to back off.”

Teresa shakes her head. “I can’t do that. I need both of you here. And it was easier to just take you and let him come to us than to try and take both of you at the same time. You know he’d do anything for you.”

Completely revolted, Thomas slams his hand down on a table. “Stay away from him! Leave him be, or — “

Once again, the door opens. This time two guards come in. It’s as if they were waiting for him to blow. They grab him by the arms and throw him onto the bed as he thrashes.

“Get the hell off of me! Leave him alone!” Thomas shouts as the guards strap his arms and legs down. “I’m gonna kill you. I swear if you hurt him, I’m gonna — “

But he’s cut off when he feels a sharp pain in his neck, and when he looks over all he can see is Teresa staring down at him. And then the room starts to spin, and his whole body starts to feel tingly, but numb at the same time. He fights to keep his eyes open. He fights to stay alert, to make sure Newt is safe. But after so long he can’t fight anymore, so he lets the darkness swallow him.

-

Once they got past the woods and the trees, they reached a clearing. Patches of dead grass and greenery mixed together for what seemed like miles ahead of them. Having no idea which way to go, they just kept heading straight until they could see the faint outline of buildings on the horizon.

“Do you have any idea how long it’s gonna take to get there?” Caleb had asked.

“Then we better book it until we can’t stand anymore,” Newt replied.

So they did. They alternated walking, running, and stopping to eat until it got dark and they laid down to rest.

Until they wake up to a humming sound.

Minho hears it first, then wakes up Newt as Jess and Caleb get up on their own. “What is that?” Jess asks.

Newt looks up, point out ahead of them. A light in the sky is coming straight for them. “A berg. We need to hide.”

“Where, dude? There’s nothing around us for miles,” Minho points out.

“What if they’re here to help?” Caleb suggests. “Why do we need to hide?”

Minho shakes his head. “No one with a berg is ever helpful.”

So they stand there, helpless, just watching as the berg comes closer and closer, until it lands just hundreds of feet from them, and they have to hold their arms over their faces to block themselves from the dirt being blown around by the wind.

Instinctively backing up when the hatch starts lower, they all squint and wait anxiously.

But the second Minho sees a weapon, he bolts. “Run!” he screams, already starting to take out his gun as he turns and runs the other way.

Jess and Caleb immediately follow him, but Newt hesitates. He watches as people covered head to toe in uniforms — probably ten or fifteen of them — exit the berg, holding up rifles and launchers, and head right for them. Then he turns, running and catching up with the others.

Everyone has their guns out, but they all know it’ll be no help against these people.

“Stop running, stay put, and put your weapons down,” one of the guards warns. “This is your only warning before we open fire.”

Jess looks back, terror filing her gut at the sight of all the people chasing them. “What do we do?” she screams.

“Keep running!” Minho shouts. “But don’t shoot your gun!”

But apparently they weren’t bluffing. Because after just a few seconds, the sound of launchers charging fills the air. The first gun misses them, but the sound is loud enough to make them all jump.

Minho wants so badly to keep running. But as soon as he hears Jess scream he has to stop. He looks back to find her on the ground, tendrils of electricity snaking over her body. “Jess!” he shouts. His gun falls to the ground, and he gets to his knees and looks down at her. He can’t even touch her.

Caleb and Newt stop running, turning and pointing their guns at the guards.

“Put your weapons on the ground,” the guard warns again.

Caleb sighs, slowly leaning over and setting his gun down gently. “Newt, do it.”

But Newt hesitates. He wants to shoot them. All of them. He hates these people so much. Why shouldn’t they die? But he looks down at Minho, his friend, staring hopelessly at the girl he loves as she starts passing out from the pain she’s in. And finally he obeys, dropping his gun.

“Put your hands behind your head,” a guard says.

So they do. Newt raises his hands and locks his fingers behind his head. He doesn’t see them coming, but he feels himself being kicked, and he falls onto his stomach, grunting. He can feel a little bit more of the fire igniting inside of him, and he fights not to turn around and strangle the person holding him down.

His hands are put in cuffs, and he’s picked up by the back of the shirt and put on his feet. When he looks from side to side, he sees the same thing happening with Minho and Caleb. Jess is being carried by one of the men.

As they’re led toward the berg, the only thing that keeps him together is the thought that they’re bringing him closer to Thomas. At least, that’s what he hopes.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really short, but I have the next chapter written and I’ll be updating it today as well! That one has a lot of action, so get ready!

Thomas wakes up in that same bed, no longer strapped in. He feels heavy and tired, but everything comes back to him, and the thought of Newt keeps him up. The door opens, and Teresa comes in with that stupid clipboard again.

“How’d you sleep?” she asks.

Thomas scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Where’s Newt?”

She stays silent.

And suddenly a thought occurs to him. How had he not asked this before? “Where’s Jack? Why did you take him?”

Teresa looks up, raising an eyebrow. “Really, Tom? You’re smarter than that.”

His mind goes back to the night she showed up at the house, before he kicked her out. She had said something about rumors of starting the trials back up again. His heart sinks, and he jumps to his feet. “No, you can’t do that.”

“I’ll do whatever’s necessary,” Teresa replies flatly.

“I told you I didn’t want anybody to get hurt,” Thomas argues.

Teresa sighs. “They aren’t getting hurt. It’s just like when we were kids, and we lived at one of the WICKED bases. We were kept safe from the outside world. Hell, we even got an education.”

Shaking his head, Thomas huffs. “No, this isn’t okay. You... _They_? There’s more?” At her silence, he steps toward her. “You can’t just take kids from their homes. How many are there?”

“Only a few right now. We haven’t gotten everyone on our list.”

In disbelief and disgust, Thomas runs a hand through his hair. “I can’t... You... I’m out. I’m not doing this anymore. I won’t help you.”

“You don’t have much of a say in that, Tom.” And with that, she steps over to the door and knocks on it.

Immediately, those same two men from earlier come in. One of them grabs his arms, putting them behind his back. He almost struggles, but then he sees the launcher in the other man’s hands. He goes behind them, and Thomas can feel the end of the weapon digging into his back. So he freezes up.

“Take him to confinement,” Teresa orders. “It’ll be easier to keep him calm in there.”

So when the man holding his arms lets go and instead just grips one shoulder, and the other nudges him forward with his launcher, he starts walking forward. They lead him down the halls, and he keeps looking for opportunities to turn around and fight back. But there are guards everywhere, just wandering the halls with their guns and launchers at the ready. If it were just these two, he could easily take them. But he knows that, at least right now, fighting will do nothing but waste his energy.

At the end of one of the halls is a set of doors. There’s no handle, though. Just a place to scan a keycard. He can see through the small window as they approach it that it was probably some sort of lab. He can’t see any equipment in it, though. Just a metal table in the middle. How is that room supposed to keep him calm?

The man holding his arm scans his card, and at the sound of a beep, the doors slide open, and they go in.

On the other side of the room is another set of doors, identical to the ones they just went through. And they start towards those doors, but they only make it to the table in the middle of the room before the scanner on the doors in front of them beeps and turns green.

The guards holding him stop, obviously not expecting anyone to come through those doors. But the doors open, and Thomas’s legs suddenly want to give out.

The first face he sees is Minho’s, angry and annoyed. Then Jess stands out to him, looking exhausted and scared. Caleb is unreadable, as always. But Newt. He has this fire in his eyes, both insanely scary and determined. But the minute his gaze falls on Thomas, his face softens.

“ _Tommy_ ,” Newt breathes out.

That’s when Thomas notices the guards behind them. Just a few, but still too many to fight.

“Go on, keep walking,” one of the guards says, pushing Minho forward.

So they all continue walking with weapons trained on their backs, but Thomas does his best to pull away from his guards to talk to his friends. “Newt!” he yells. “Don’t listen to her. She’s starting the trials again, don’t do anything to help her!”

“Alright, come on, kid,” the man holding Thomas says, tugging on his arm.

But before anyone can use a weapon or move any further, the door that Thomas just came through opens, and Teresa walks in. “Well,” she says. “Long time, no see, boys.”

Minho basically growls, struggling against his captor. “I should’ve known it was you. I’m gonna kill you.”

Teresa ignores him, looking around at the various guards. Finally she sighs. “Okay, just take them all to 3A. We’ll let them catch up a bit and then carry on as usual.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A simple conversation takes a dangerous turn

Apparently 3A is a small room on the third floor. It looks like meetings are held there, because the only thing in it is a big table with chairs surrounding it. Teresa is already sitting at the head of the table when they arrive, and she tells all the guards to wait outside except for one, and to come in if they heard any sign of trouble.

“Don’t worry. They won’t hurt me,” she says.

“You underestimate us,” Minho says under his breath.

Newt takes a seat, and Thomas quickly sits next to him, grabbing his hand under the table. All he wants right now is some time alone with him.

“It was a trap,” Thomas says softly as Minho sits on his other side, with Jess on the other side of him. “They wanted you. You shouldn’t have come.”

“Nothing is going to stop me from getting you back,” Newt promises, leaning over and shamelessly kissing him.

Caleb sits next to Newt, and Teresa clears her throat. “Let’s get started.”

“With what?” Jess asks. “Where is my son?”

Minho, Newt, and Thomas seem to all be thinking the same thing. They all look around, trying to think of the best strategy to escape. They need to get out of this room, get away from the guards, and find Jack. But there doesn’t seem to be much hope.

Ignoring her question, Teresa continues, “Based on Newt’s recent relapse, we predicted that he would sneak off to find Thomas alone. So we didn’t plan to have three others, but we can always use help.”

“We’re not helping you,” Minho spits out.

Newt looks up quickly. “How did you know about that?”

Once again ignoring the question, Teresa looks around at the others. “We’re collecting all of the victims of the Flare virus and bringing them in. A mistake in the make-up of the cure is causing them to have violent outbursts that could potentially became dangerous and permanent.”

“So you brought me here to lock me up?” Newt asks.

“And in the previous trials, Thomas was our top candidate, so we have hope that he’ll help with a new blueprint,” Teresa explains.

“So _where is my son_?” Jess asks, leaning forward.

Teresa sighs. “Don’t worry, he’s safe.”

“That’s a load of clunk,” Minho says angrily.

Thomas glances nervously at the guard in the corner. He can tell that Minho is ready to pounce, so he prepares himself to take the man’s weapon away before he can hurt his friend.

After a few moments, Teresa stands up. “Caleb,” she says, turning to him. “Thank you. You can leave now.”

Completely taken aback, the others look over at him as he stands. “Wait, what?” Thomas asks.

Caleb looks over at him, shrugging. “I did what I know is right.”

Without waiting for any explanation, Newt jumps to his feet, and he grabs Caleb by the shirt, pushing him into the wall. “You were spying on us, you bloody traitor!”

Thomas grabs Newt around his middle, pulling him back. “Newt, be careful.” He glances back, watching as the guard, who started to get his launcher ready, steps back. He looks at Caleb. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What I need to do,” Caleb responds flatly.

Thomas looks between them, in utter disbelief. “Is that how you knew about Newt’s relapses?” Thomas asks Teresa. “Because he’s been telling you everything we do?”

“How can you work for these people?” Minho asks. “You have a daughter! Do you even understand — “

“I’m doing this _because_ of my daughter,” Caleb spits back. “The world is still falling apart, and I want to help make it safer for her.”

Thomas scoffs. “It’s not safe for any kid. They’re taking them to start up more trials, just like they did with us,” he says, motioning between him and his friends. “And do you know how many of my friends died? You’re only making it worse for Jade.”

Caleb shakes his head. “I trust them.”

Newt rolls his eyes. “I knew it. I knew we couldn’t trust him. I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna kill all of you.”

Thomas instinctively grabs Newt’s hand, and looks over at Teresa. “I want a few minutes alone with my friends. Minho, Jess, Newt, and I only. Take your bodyguard or whatever he is out of here and let me talk to them.”

“Absolutely not,” Teresa replies as Caleb exits the room. “Last time you got any time alone with these two at a WICKED base you managed to break out and injure multiple people.”

Thomas rolls his eyes. “Fine, then just Newt. Give me time alone with Newt.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be negotiating here.”

Leaning over the table to get closer to Teresa, Thomas stares intently at her. “If I’m as important to this blueprint as you say, then I think I am. Leave us alone. Give us five minutes.”

After a moment, she sighs and nods. “Five minutes. Don’t try anything.”

The guard grabs Minho and Jess’s arms, starting to lead them out of the room. They look back, and Thomas nods. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.”

As soon as the door shuts, Thomas turns back to Newt, pulling him close and burying his face in the crook of his neck. “We have to figure out a way out of here,” he says. “They’re gonna hurt you. They’re gonna hurt those kids. We need to get out of here and then come up with a plan to stop them.”

“What’s the point?” Newt asks, pulling away. “They’ll never stop.”

“We have to try.”

Newt looks at Thomas, but it’s a strange expression. It’s like he doesn’t have any emotion in his face. “Maybe it’s better if we stay. Maybe they’ll find a cure this time.”

Thomas scoffs, chuckling. “Very funny. Seriously, come on, what’s the plan? You came here to break me out, so how are we doing this?”

Not breaking his gaze, Newt shakes his head. “We need to stay. I need a real cure. We have to stay, Thomas.”

And that’s what does it for him. That’s what brings him back to the harsh reality. Thomas realizes then that something is seriously wrong. Newt didn’t call him Tommy.

“Newt...” Thomas says slowly, stepping closer. “Were you with Minho and Jess the whole time on the Berg? Were you ever alone? Were you conscious the whole time?”

He doesn’t reply.

“Newt! Answer me. Were you awake the whole time?”

Then Newt’s eyes move, and behind them Thomas can see the struggle. He’s fighting against something just to answer this one question. “I... I don’t remember.”

Thomas’s stomach drops, and he takes a step back. But it’s too late. Newt’s eyes are like stones again, and he snatches Thomas’s wrists tightly, pulling him forward before throwing him back.

Thomas’s back hits the wall behind him, and he drops to the floor for only a second before quickly getting back up. “Newt, fight it! They put the damn controller back in your head, you have to fight it!”

But he remembers how exhausting and difficult it is to fight against this technology, and he has a hard time finding any hope in the situation.

Newt stalks toward him. He raises a fist, and tries to swing it, but Thomas ducks and his hand hits the wall instead. While he’s low, Thomas pushes Newt back, causing him to lose his balance and fall over.

He lands by a chair, the one that Teresa was sitting in, and he uses it to pull himself up. But as he gets back to his feet, Thomas notices an object on the chair, right by his hand.

A gun. How would Newt have gotten a gun? But then it hits him. Teresa. She left it there.

Newt’s hand is shaking now, and he’s obviously trying to stop himself from grabbing it. But he can’t. He takes a hold of the weapon, swinging back around and aiming it at Thomas, who jumps back.

“Newt!” Thomas screams. “Put it down. Come on, fight this! Put the gun down.”

Newt’s lips are pursed tightly, his whole body shaking. “I can’t... Tommy, I can’t. Do something, please. Help me.”

He’s the one with the gun, what is Thomas supposed to do? “I can’t. If I move, you’ll shoot me. You have to put the gun down.”

They stand like that for a minute. The longest minute of Thomas’s life. It’s a terrible experience, waiting for the love of his life to shoot him.

But he doesn’t. He doesn’t even realize that he shut his eyes until he hears a thud, and he opens them to find the gun on the floor. Without hesitating, he dives for it, but Newt jumps at him at the exact same time, having lost control again. Thomas lands on top of the gun, grabbing it and holding it away from himself, and Newt lands on top of Thomas.

He’s about to start pinning Thomas to the ground, but Thomas moves quickly enough to shove him away and get to his feet. He runs to the door, trying to open it to run away, but finds it locked. Thomas keeps the gun at his side, refusing to aim it at Newt. But Newt doesn’t stop. He charges forward again, slamming Thomas into the wall, then to the ground again. Thomas never loses his grip on the weapon.

“Newt, stop!” he shouts. “You have to stop!”

They struggle on the ground until finally Thomas is able to lift his arm and hit Newt over the head with the gun. He meant to knock him out, but Newt just stumbles away, and Thomas gets back to his feet.

“I can’t control it, Tommy!” Newt screams. “I’m sorry.”

“You have to! Come on, Newt.”

“Shoot me.”

Thomas is falling apart all over again. He can’t repeat this.

“No!” Thomas yells. “You can fight it.”

“Shoot me,” Newt says again. But this time Thomas notices the flatness of his tone. And he knows it’s not really Newt talking. Newt steps closer. “Shoot me!”

“No!” Thomas steps away, hitting the wall behind him.

So Newt holds him against the wall by his chest, eyes digging into him. “Kill me, Thomas. This won’t stop until you kill me. I’ll go out there and find precious Jess and Minho if I have to.”

That’s when he knows it’s over. He has to do something.

“Newt,” Thomas says softly, everything inside him hurting. “I know you can hear me. I know you’re doing everything in your power to stop this right now. But you can’t. So I just need you to know that I love you. I love you so much. I never wanted to hurt you. So I’m sorry. I’m sorry that we’re doing this again, Newt.”

The gun, gripped in his hands, is pressing into the side of Newt’s head. Thomas shuts his eyes. But after a moment, he feels like a coward and opens them again. A moment later, he pulls the trigger.


	10. Chapter 10

Silence. Complete silence.

It rings in Thomas’s ears as he stares in horror at Newt’s face, eyes shut tight in fear as he waits for the blow.

But after a few moments, his eyes open again, and something changes in him. He looks more relaxed, in control of his body again. And he falls to the ground, shaking hands covering his face.

Dropping the empty gun, Thomas gets on his knees and pulls Newt close, letting out a sob. “N - Newt... I’m sorry...”

Newt shakes his head, shakily getting back to his feet and stepping away. “You - You were gonna shoot me...”

“I’m sorry,” Thomas repeats, voice quivering. “I thought it was the only way... Newt, please, I’m sorry.”

“At least I know you’ll do it again when I crank out for good,” Newt says, scoffing.

“I...” Thomas trails off, looking around the room. Movement out of the corner of his eyes catches him off guard, and he looks up to find a camera on the ceiling in the corner by the door. Anger boils up inside of him. He marches over to the door, starting to bang on it. “Let us out of here!”

Only a few seconds later he hears the lock unlatch, and he steps back as it opens. There Teresa stands, two men with guns behind her. “Congratulations, you passed the first test,” she says.

Thomas would strangle her if there weren’t two weapons ready to shoot him. “What the hell, Teresa?”

“That was meant to see how you would handle a situation like the one you were just faced with. And you passed the test. Good job.”

“How?” Thomas asks. “I would’ve killed him.”

Teresa nods. “Exactly. So you’re still strong enough to do what’s necessary to survive. It’s been years since you were in life or death circumstances, you might have lost those instincts.”

“So what the hell is the next test?” Newt asks, pure hatred behind his eyes, all directed at Teresa. “Are you gonna throw him in a pit full of bloody cranks?”

Teresa looks up at Newt, very obviously annoyed with him. “Yeah, and you’ll be one of them,” she spits out rudely.

Newt is basically growling, and he goes to leap at her, but Thomas puts a hand in front of his chest. He hates her. Thomas hates her so much. But he can’t do anything about it right now. “Where’s Minho and Jess?”

“They’re getting their initial screenings done right now. As long as they’re here, we should see if they’re healthy enough to contribute to our research.”

“You can’t just experiment on our friends!” Newt exclaims.

Teresa rolls her eyes. “I don’t think you get much of a say in this.”

“I wanna see them,” Thomas says. “Let me see Minho.”

“You’ll see them eventually,” is her only reply. “Come on, let’s go.”

Newt and Thomas both step away. “Where?” Newt asks.

“Where you’ll be staying while you’re here.”

“You’re not separating us, are you?” Thomas asks. “I won’t leave him.”

Teresa ignores him, stepping to the side to make room for the guards to come forward and grab them. Thomas’s guard grabs his right arm with his left hand, keeping his right hand on his gun the whole time. It looks like Newt’s is doing the same.

Teresa nods, looking between the men. “You know where to go. Let them say goodbye when you get there, though,” she says quickly before leaving the room and disappearing down the hall.

The guards pull them out of the room, leading them down the halls, turning right and left once in awhile. Finally they reach an elevator and get in, and Newt’s guard presses a button for level B2. They start moving down... And down... It takes forever. They’re probably way underground when the doors open.

It’s like a whole other world. It’s so quiet. There’s no one walking in the hall except a few doctors and scientists. But as they start moving deeper into the level, Thomas hears a familiar sound. A scream, a screech. Thumps on walls and cries of anger.

He quickly turns to look at Newt, who looks as terrified as he feels. Thomas plants his feet, craning his neck to turn and look at the man holding him. “Please, you can’t do this. He’s safe, he’s not gonna hurt anyone. Please, I am begging you, don’t — “

“Shut up and keep walking, kid,” the man replies, pushing him forward.

They walk down a hall, but the walls are made of glass. Behind that glass are cranks. _These are cells_ , Thomas registers. This place is a prison. And he can’t leave Newt here.

In that hall, there are eight cells, with four on each side. The cranks are banging on the glass, screaming at them. The guards aren’t fazed, but Newt stares in horror. He must be seeing a whole other side of what he went through.

They turn right and go down a similar hall, then turn left. This one is empty. Actually, there isn’t a place for more than one person. The two sides are normal, cement walls instead of glass. And at the very end of the hall is a single glass compartment, empty.

 _They’re isolating him_. They’re taking Newt away from any connection he could possibly get.

Thomas’s heart breaks for Newt as they approach the single cell. And when they finally get there, he turns to the man holding him again, begging, “Please. Don’t do this, he can’t — “

“Just say goodbye,” the guard replies, releasing his arm. Newt’s guard does the same thing, and the two of them step away, just a few feet.

Thomas immediately throws himself into Newt, burying his head in his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he says again, desperately. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I thought — “

Newt shakes his head, apparently not angry anymore. It doesn’t seem to matter much now. “It’s okay, Tommy. It’s good to know that if and when I turn back into one of those things, I can count on someone to stop me.”

Thomas’s eyes fill with tears as he pulls away. “Don’t talk like that. We’re gonna figure something out.”

Nodding, Newt squeezes Thomas’s hands reassuringly. “I’ll be okay. Just... Get Jack and Jess to safety, and make sure Minho is okay. And if you see Caleb... just make him regret what he did.”

Thomas can’t help but chuckle at that, but he’s crying. “I love you,” he says, and without waiting, he leans in and kisses Newt like there’s no tomorrow. And, honestly, there might not be.

“Alright, time’s up,” one of the guards says, stepping forward again.

Thomas and Newt pull away, but refuse to let go of each other until Thomas is pulled back by his guard. Newt’s takes out a keycard, scanning it. There’s a clicking sound, and the glass slides open.

The cell is small. The back side of it is just metal, and he can see a small toilet and sink in the corner, but that’s it. It looks terrible to be in, and he can’t imagine Newt doing well on his own in there.

But Newt doesn’t go in.

The man holding Thomas pushes him forward, toward the cell. “Go on.”

“What are you doing?” Newt asks, pulling away from his guard. “No, that was supposed to be me.”

Thomas, completely taken aback, stands frozen. “I... Newt...” His heart races, and his hands start shaking. He can’t do this. “Newt!”

“Tommy!” Newt shouts. The guard has to hold him back as the other man physically pushes Thomas in, then presses a button on the outside.

The sound of Newt desperately screaming and the sight of him thrashing and fighting hurts Thomas all over. But it’s all cut off when the glass slides closed.

And now he’s alone. He can’t see out of his cell. It’s just a mirror. The other three walls are mirrors. He’s left to stare at himself, torn apart and shaking. He definitely needs a shower.

But the worst part is the sound. Nothing.

Silence. Complete Silence.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas has to deal with isolation in traumatizing ways.

As he’s led through the halls, Newt panics. He looks around, trying to find a way to escape, to fight back, but there’s nothing. There are just too many people against him.

Finally, they stop in a hall on the other side of the building, up a few levels from where they left Thomas. They stand in front of a door, another one of those doors that requires a keycard to open. So one of the guards holds him back while the other gets out his ID card and scans it. It beeps, and the guard opens the door.

Newt doesn’t even get a good look at it before he’s thrown inside. He has to catch his balance, and by the time he turns to fight, the door has shut. He tries to open it back up, but the handle won’t budge.

“Hey!” he screams, banging on the wood with his fist. “Let me out of here! Let me out!”

Of course, there’s no response.

Newt huffs angrily, turning back around to inspect the room. And it’s strange. Something about it seems familiar. It’s simple. Just a bunk bed up against the wall, and an entryway into a tiny bathroom in the corner. There’s not a window, a blanket, a pillow. Nothing in sight.

So he just lies down on the bottom bunk, staring up at the mattress above him. And, God, he wants to fight. He wants to take down every single person in this damn building. And he knows it’s only a matter of time before he explodes. But for now, he keeps the thought of Tommy in his mind to calm him down.

-

The thought of Newt terrifies Thomas. He can’t stand not being near him, to make sure that he’s okay. To make sure he doesn’t crank out. And at this point, it’s really only a matter of time before he does.

He knows that he’s being watched somehow. They must have cameras in here somewhere, but he can’t spot them. Or maybe they put a chip into his head without him knowing, like they did with Newt, and they can tell what’s going on in his mind.

It feels like a million years ago that he could communicate with Teresa in his head. And if they did put the chip back in his head, maybe they can communicate again. Just in case that’s true, he tries to send her a message. He pictures the words forming in his mind, big and loud and clear, then imagines throwing them to her.

_I hate you._

-

Newt doesn’t know how much time passes before he hears a sound. It’s a faint beep from outside, then the sound of a door unlocking. Sitting up fast, he finds Minho practically falling into the room, then turning and banging on the door.

“No one’s coming,” Newt says, making Minho jump and turn around. The sight of him throws him off. Minho has a black eye, as well as a split lip and what looks like a big scratch across his cheek. Newt gets up quickly, basically running over to him. “What the bloody hell happened to you?”

A look of annoyance crosses over Minho’s face, but he also looks terribly sad. “Well, apparently Caleb wasn’t the only traitor.”

“What do you mean?” Newt asks.

“Jess,” Minho answers, sighing and shaking his head. “She... She attacked me. She had a gun, I have no idea where she got it. But she kept insisting that we need to stay here.”

Newt immediately shakes his head, starting to recognize what they’re doing. “No, Minho, that wasn’t Jess.”

“What - Yes, it was.”

Sighing, Newt turns and sits on the bed again. “No, I mean - It was Jess, but it wasn’t... Jess.” He huffs. “The same thing happened to me. They were controlling her. Like they did with Gally after the Maze.”

“What do you mean, the same thing happened to you?” Minho asks, taking a seat next to him.

Newt glances away, not really wanting to think about it. “They were controlling me. They made me say that we should stay here to find a cure, and then I started attacking Thomas. There was a gun; he had to fight back.”

Worry all over Minho’s face, his eyes widen. “Where is he? Is he...?”

“What? No!” Newt exclaims. “He’s alive. They locked him up. He’s all alone... The gun wasn’t loaded. But if it had been, I wouldn’t be here.”

Minho stares at him in horror. “He tried to... He tried to _kill you_?”

Newt shrugs. “They were making me say things, and he must have been scared enough that he thought it was the only way. What about you? Was Jess’s gun loaded?”

“I don’t know,” Minho answers. “I got it out of her hands before she could try anything, and I wasn’t gonna try to shoot her. I managed to knock her out. Then Teresa came in and told me I had failed the test, or whatever. Just because I refused to kill someone I love... Shit, I can’t believe I got her involved in this clunk.”

“Minho,” Newt says. “Do you remember every part of the ride on the berg?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, did you... sleep or anything?”

Minho shakes his head. “Hell no. There’s no way I could have fallen asleep.”

Confused, Newt rubs his face stressfully. “Were we together the whole time?”

Face falling, Minho shakes his head again. “Do you not remember?”

Shaking his head, Newt sighs. “No... Minho... I don’t think I remember any of it.” He can’t piece together any of it in his head. He can picture the inside of a berg, but he can’t remember recently being in one himself.

“We were together for a little while. Then they came and took you and Jess away.”

“So that... That must have been when they put the controller in.” Newt scoffs, standing up. “Tommy was right. We’ll never really be safe.”

“We can’t think about that right now. We just need to find a way out of here, and we need to get Jess and Jack and Thomas, and get the hell out of this place.”

Newt rolls his eyes. “And how are we supposed to do that? We’re completely trapped.”

Minho just shrugs. “We’ve been trapped before.”

-

Stomach cramping up from hunger, Thomas gives up on banging on the glass for the fourth time. There’s no use. He’s getting sick of staring at himself in the mirror, so he sits facing the concrete wall and toilet, but he can still see his reflection out of the corners of his eyes.

It’s been several hours. Nothing has changed. He hasn’t heard a sound or seen anything except the inside of this cell.

So he’s completely thrown off when something flickers. He jumps, looking to the side and getting to his feet.

On one of the mirror walls is a large rectangle of white light. It looks like it’s being projected, but when he turns to find where it’s coming from, he only finds the reflection of himself and the white. Then it flickers again, and he sees nothing but black and white and gray static.

It’s just a wall, just a picture, just a light. So why is his heart racing so fast? He’s so terrified of whatever the hell this is, he really doesn’t even want to look at it. But he doesn’t have a choice, since it’s all around him.

After a few minutes of silence and static, the first thing that happens is a sound. It’s a loud clang that makes Thomas practically jump out of his skin. Then the static flickers into an actual picture.

 _Newt_.

But he’s younger. Much younger. It looks like a camera is on the ground, and Newt is staring down at something. And his clothes are... _He’s seen those before_. In the Glade.

It’s a beetle blade feed. When it finally clicks in Thomas’s mind, he doesn’t know what to think. What are they trying to do?

The feed moves, and the beetle blade watches as someone lifts up the doors to the Box. And there he is. So scared, so confused. He hasn’t gone through any trauma yet. At least, not that he can remember.

The beetle blade observes as Newt helps Thomas out, holding him up and trying to calm him down. And that’s the last of it that Thomas sees, because it switches to another feed. This time it’s dark out, and Thomas and Newt are separated from the Gladers, leaning against a log and smiling at each other. Laughing. _When was the last time he laughed_? It must have been ages ago.

Next is by the wall of the Maze. He can see himself, staring into the Maze, and Newt and the others behind him. He never knew how concerned about him Newt was until seeing this. He doesn’t worry about his trapped friends at this point; he’s only watching Thomas, biting his lip nervously. And then Thomas takes off, into the Maze, and Newt reaches out for him, tries to grab his hand. He really cared, and he always have. And that means the world to Thomas.

He doesn’t know what WICKED is trying to do here, because if anything Thomas is happier than ever. He’s watching all these little moments between him and the man he loves, and he almost wants to stay here forever. It’s like falling in love all over again.

The next thing he sees is him and Newt running around the Glade. Newt is chasing him, and he doesn’t even remember why, but as he watches, Thomas remembers the pure joy he felt that day. He didn’t know who he was or where he came from, but he knew that he belonged there, with Newt, and anywhere else Newt would go. It was then that the loneliest place on earth started to feel like home.

Newt finally tackles him to the ground, and they roll in the grass for a little while before getting tired and lying on their backs, next to each other. Thomas can’t help but laugh when he sees Minho in the background, pointing and laughing with Frypan.

The next one catches him off guard. Because it’s kids that he’s watching. From what looks like surveillance cameras, he can see two little kids making their way through halls, laughing, running.

A little boy stops at a door in the hall, looking around to make sure no one is with him before knocking on it. This is the first time Thomas hears voices in these clips, but as soon as he hears it, he knows immediately who it is.

“Hey,” the little boy says, when another opens the door. “I’ve heard a lot of rumors about you. You’re Thomas, right?”

The other kid, Thomas, nods. “Yeah. Who are you?”

The grin on this boy’s face is all too familiar. “I’m Newt... Well, everyone’s looking forward to meeting you. Let’s go, Tommy.”

More and more clips of them running around, whether it’s in the halls, or in the Glade. It’s crazy that in what seems like such a terrible life, Thomas smiled so much. He actually found a way to be happy through all of the shit he went through. And that way was Newt.

But nothing lasts in Thomas’s life. Everything crashes down around him when he hears a scream. He jumps back to his feet again, looking around, expecting someone to be with him. But there’s no one.

Just Newt. His heart drops when he sees the feed. The beetle blade is up high, and Newt is lying on the ground, screaming, sobbing, cursing. His leg is bent out of shape.

Thomas stares in horror. Of course, he knew this happened. Newt told him. But he never wanted to see it.

The feed cuts again. It’s the same beetle blade, but this time Newt is right next to it, climbing up, up, and further up. Tears stream down his face as he quietly sobs to himself.

Thomas shakes his head. “No... Stop...” he whispers. He doesn’t know who he’s talking to. Maybe Newt, maybe the people doing this to him. He just wants it to stop.

When Newt lets go of the vines, he doesn’t know why he can’t look away. He’s frozen in place, heart breaking over and over again.

“Turn it off!” Thomas screams. “Turn it _off_!”

And again, Newt is on the ground screaming.

Thomas sinks down to the ground, finally forcing himself to shut his eyes tight. His hands fly to his head, holding his ears. But it’s too loud. All he can hear is Newt screaming.

Tears freely fall. He’s too busy trying to block it all out to wipe them away.

Then the screams change. It’s a different kind of shout. Angry, crazed. And he knows what it is, but he refuses to open up his eyes.

Until he hears his name.

“ _Tommy_!” the voice screams.

Thomas’s eyes slowly open and he’s face to face with a new clip. This one looks like another surveillance camera, but this time it’s inside a cell similar to his.

The sight of Newt in this one makes Thomas forget he was ever hungry. He feels sick, thrown back into that night. Newt is standing in the middle of this empty cell, thrashing around, his skin popping with back veins, eyes sunken, hair practically ripped out of his head.

“ _Tommy_!” Newt screeches, voice cracking. And he just keeps saying it. Again and again. Thomas never thought he would dislike the nickname, but now... He never wants to hear it again. “Tommy, _Tommy_!”

When was this? Thomas never remembers seeing Newt this bad.

But then he realizes. The night they first saw Newt again, he told them about what happened after Thomas shot him. They locked him up while they worked for ages on the cure.

It switches again, and he’s staring at Newt falling again.

Face twisting in agony, Thomas covers his eyes and puts his head down again. He can’t even hear his own sobs over the sound of Newt’s screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! I’ll get it updated as soon as I can! Please tell me your thoughts on this!


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